14 October 2026
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Story Chrystal Francis
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Photo Supplied
South African universities risk allowing the demands of institutional survival to narrow their intellectual purpose. This concern shaped a national discussion in which the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, and university leaders questioned whether the country's higher education system gives institutions sufficient freedom to challenge established knowledge and respond to the societies they serve.
South African universities risk allowing the demands of institutional survival to narrow their intellectual purpose. This concern shaped a national discussion in which the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, and university leaders questioned whether the country's higher education system gives institutions sufficient freedom to challenge established knowledge and respond to the societies they serve.
For the University of the Free State (UFS) Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Hester C. Klopper, the debate extends beyond institutional performance to the question of whether African universities can determine their own intellectual priorities rather than reproduce inherited models of success.
Prof Klopper joined Minister Manamela, Prof Sibongile Muthwa, the Vice-Chancellor of Nelson Mandela University, and Prof Linda Meyer, the President of Rosebank International, for the webinar titled The Intellectual Directions of Higher Education in South Africa on 12 October 2026. The UFS partnered with Nelson Mandela University, Rosebank International, and Higher Education Media Services to convene the webinar, which sought to advance debate about the intellectual future of South African higher education.
Rethinking what universities are good for
Minister Manamela challenged the sector's preoccupation with funding and governance crises and warned that keeping institutions operational should not displace questions about their purpose.
“What is the South African university for, in the world that is emerging, and in the society that we are still struggling to build?” he asked.
The Minister argued that academic independence must allow universities to question prevailing assumptions while remaining attentive to the communities that are affected by inequality. Their public responsibility, however, does not require every research project to produce an immediate economic return.
Minister Manamela also questioned whether South African universities should continue competing to resemble the same international institutional models. He advocated a differentiated higher education system in which universities develop distinct strengths while maintaining academic quality.
Prof Klopper developed this argument by distinguishing between what universities are good at and what they are good for.
Drawing on the thinking of Julius Nyerere and Mahmood Mamdani, Prof Klopper examined how African universities have historically negotiated their responsibilities to scholarship and society. She recalled Nyerere's view that universities in developing societies should contribute to human dignity and development, while Mamdani's work highlighted the tension between scholarly independence and public responsibility.
Their work informed Prof Klopper's reflection on the extent to which African universities have moved beyond their colonial inheritance to become institutions rooted in the societies they serve.
Prof Klopper cautioned against allowing conventional performance measures to define the full value of universities' intellectual work. She advocated protecting time for exploratory research and experimental teaching, alongside greater recognition of contributions that cannot easily be quantified.
“Without imagination, the future becomes simply a better measure of the present,” she said.
For the University of the Free State, her argument raises a question about academic excellence itself. While rigorous scholarship remains essential, research with impact also requires the freedom to investigate problems that established approaches have failed to explain.
Access must change who shapes knowledge
Expanding university admission does not necessarily change whose knowledge is recognised within academic institutions.
Minister Manamela argued that decolonisation requires universities to examine which intellectual traditions shape curricula and whether African languages can become established languages of scholarship.
Prof Muthwa maintained that admission alone cannot fulfil higher education's democratic responsibilities. Students must also develop the confidence to participate in academic life and contribute to knowledge creation.
Minister Manamela warned that widening student access without adequately funding the institutions responsible for teaching them would undermine the opportunity higher education seeks to provide. Dr Meyer reinforced the need for financial sustainability and cooperation between public and private institutions. She also challenged universities to make African-language scholarship a recognised part of academic life rather than an exception.
At the University of the Free State, the principle of access with success recognises that admission must be accompanied by academic support. Student success also depends on developing the confidence to challenge established knowledge and contribute independent perspectives.
Rethinking learning in an AI-enabled world
Artificial intelligence (AI) has exposed weaknesses in conventional assessment practices. Minister Manamela warned that students can produce convincing academic work without demonstrating genuine understanding, requiring universities to assess their ability to evaluate evidence and exercise sound judgement.
He also challenged African universities to develop the capacity to shape and govern AI technologies rather than remaining dependent on systems designed elsewhere.
Prof Muthwa argued that graduates need to recognise AI's limitations rather than accept its outputs without scrutiny.
Minister Manamela and Prof Klopper emphasised the continued importance of the humanities in developing the ethical judgement needed to confront problems that technology alone cannot resolve.
For the UFS, this places the focus on preparing graduates to evaluate uncertain information and defend their conclusions through independent reasoning.
Minister Manamela concluded by asking whether South Africa – knowing what it now knows about inequality, artificial intelligence, climate change, and the future of work – would design the university system it currently has. If not, what should change, and what must be protected?